KKR IPL 2025 Auction Likely Buys: Shreyas Snubbed, Big Bid For Salt, Starc; Buttler, KL Rahul, Pant In Captaincy Hunt

Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will be among the teams most disappointed that a mega auction followed in 2025 after their dream campaign in 2024, in which they not just won the title but assembled what will go down as one of the greatest teams in the league's history.While the Knight Riders have lost several key players, including skipper Shreyas Iyer, they have retained an enviable core as Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana, and Ramandeep Singh decided to stay with the franchise.The defending champions have no Right to Match (RTM) card in the auction but are likely to be in the market for several players from their team last year. It will be very surprising if KKR does not make big bids to re-sign Phil Salt. Ramanullah Gurbaz, Mitchell Starc, Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, and Vaibhav Arora.However, KKR will be in search of a new captain, with it looking unlikely that Shreyas will return to the franchise with high demand from other teams after the player and franchise failed to agree on a deal. The Kolkata-based franchise is expected to be active in the marquee set with KL Rahul, Jos Buttler, and Rishabh Pant, but signing either with a budget of Rs. 55 crore will be a hard task. KKR's auction strategy is likely to depend on which former players they cannot re-sign. With arguably the best spin attack in the competition, the three-time champions will focus on their pace unit. While Starc will remain a priority signing, the likes of Trent Boult and Josh Hazlewood could be attractive alternatives. Meanwhile, Indian pacers are also set to be in demand from KKR, with Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj Umran Malik, Avesh Khan and Prasidh Krishna emerging as some premium options.While they have Narine and Varun, Afghanistan's rising young sensation Allah Ghazanfar was in their ranks last year and they will want to get a talent of that quality back with them.

KKR IPL 2025 Auction Target Predictions Marquee Set - Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Jos Buttler, Rishabh Pant, Arshdeep Singh, Mitchell Starc, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Shami Batters - Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana, Wicket-Keeper Batters - Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Phil Salt Pacers - Vaibhav Arora, Umran Malik, Avesh Khan, Prasidh Krishna Spinners - Allah Ghazanfar